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# SN 1:25 · An Arahant (Arahanta Sutta)
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-1-25/
- Published: 2026-06-01T00:10:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:53:46.000Z
- Description: Saṁyutta Nikāya · SN 1:25. Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Saṁyutta Nikāya, Verse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library, #Import 2026-07-06 03:31

“An arahant monk,

one who is done,

effluent-free, bearing his last body:

Would he say, ‘I speak’?

Would he say, ‘They speak to me’?”

“An arahant monk,

one who is done,

effluent-free, bearing his last body:

He *would* say, ‘I speak’;

would say, ‘They speak to me.’

Skillful,

knowing harmonious gnosis

with regard to the world,

he uses expressions

just as expressions.”

“An arahant monk,

one who is done,

effluent-free, bearing his last body:

Is it from conceit

that he’d say, ‘ I speak’?—

that he’d say, ‘They speak to me’?”[1](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN1%5F25.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co)

“For one whose conceit is abandoned,

whose knot of conceit is dispersed,

no knots exist

at all.

He, beyond any concept, wise,

would say, ‘I speak’;

would say, ‘They speak to me.’

Skillful,

knowing harmonious gnosis

with regard to the world,

he uses expressions

just as expressions.”

Note

1\. This question confuses the conceit, “I am” *(asmimāna)* with the simple concept, “I.” The former is a fetter, in that it involves one in a tangle of views as to what the “I” is, and what it means to be. (See [MN 2](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/mn-2/).) The latter, as this verse shows, is simply a conventional expression, and if it can be separated from the conceit “I am,” it need not fetter the mind.

See also: [DN 9](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/dn-09/); [MN 102](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/mn-102/); [AN 4:159](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-4-159/); [AN 4:200](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-4-200/); [AN 6:13](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-6-13/); [AN 9:1](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-9-1/); [AN 10:13](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-10-13/)

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*Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) licence, for free distribution only. Source: [dhammatalks.org](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN1%5F25.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*